by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Michael Hofmann

will be at The Mercury Theatre Colchester from Thursday 3 - Saturday 19 October 2013. It is directed by Nikolai Foster, with design by takis, music by Grant Olding, lighting by James Whiteside and sound by Sebastian Frost.

It’s hard to be good when you’re broke. Harder still if you’re living in a broken world. Bertolt Brecht’s 1943 classic comedy about Shen Te, one woman’s struggle to stay true to her heart in the face of a society in economic melt-down, is a parable for all times.

Tanya Franks played Irene in ‘Sherlock Holmes, The Best Kept Secret’ at the West Yorkshire Playhouse & UK tour directed by Nikolai Foster earlier this year. She was Lucy Stevens in the hit ITV series ‘Broadchurch’ with David Tennant and Olivia Coleman, and was nominated for a Bafta in her role as Karen in the popular BBC series ‘Pulling’. Her extensive stage career includes with the National Theatre, Royal Exchange and in the West End. Jake Davies was in ‘Beautiful Thing’ directed by Nikolai Foster at the Arts Theatre; Gary Shelford has been in many productions with Propellor and at the National Theatre; Nancy Sullivan has been in ‘Les Misérables’ in the West End and in the film. She was Leah in ‘Beautiful Thing’ at the Arts. Mike Burnside has been in several productions directed by Nikolai Foster at Sheffield Crucible; Liverpool and West Yorkshire Playhouses. Nikolai Foster’s work has been seen in most UK’s leading regional theatres, the West End and internationally. takis was the designer in residence at HighTide Festival for four years including ‘Stovepipe’ in collaboration with the National and ‘Ditch’ with the Old Vic. Grant Olding is most known for his Award winning music for 'One Man, Two Guvnors'. He has just finished scoring 'Saving Santa', an animation film, for release in November with the voices of Martin Freeman, Tim Curry, and Joan Collins. James Whiteside’s lighting design includes productions at Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End.

Bertolt Brecht’ s most revived plays are ‘Mother Courage’, ‘The Threepenny Opera’, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ and ‘The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui’. This translation by Michael Hofmann of The Good Person of Sichuan was originally presented at the National Theatre in 1989.